How could darkness come before light?

[FuzzyBunny116]

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2).”

If darkness is the absence of light, and in the beginning there is nothing but darkness, wouldn’t that mean that somehow the absence of something preceded that something?

 

[Gnosis]

An excellent question!

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Notice it can also be read as “the earth became formless and empty”

Also note of Isaiah where it is written “I form the light and create the darkness” Isaiah 45:7

Perhaps God did not create the light, perhaps it is he that forms it. The light can be read as the primordial substance of life by which God creates; (possibly the Logos?)

After some kind of unrecorded cosmic disaster in which the earth rejects or loses this light becoming formless and empty (hence creating darkness), God returns to again seed it with light- with life.

 

[FuzzyBunny116]

An excellent question!

Notice it can also be read as “the earth became formless and empty”

Also note of Isaiah where it is written “I form the light and create the darkness” Isaiah 45:7

Perhaps God did not create the light, perhaps it is he that forms it. The light can be read as the primordial substance of life by which God creates; (possibly the Logos?)

After some kind of unrecorded cosmic disaster in which the earth rejects or loses this light becoming formless and empty (hence creating darkness), God returns to again seed it with light- with life.

What is the difference between creating and forming?

I would suspect if there was some sort of disaster causing the earth to lose its light, it would have been mentioned. It says that in the beginning, that is, at the beginning of time, there was no light, it was only darkness. In order for the earth to somehow reject light (how could a planet without will or conciousness reject something?) it would have had to have done so “in time.”

However, the Bible says that when time “begins” the world is dark.

An interesting question indeed, my friend.

 

[Gnosis]

What is the difference between creating and forming?

I would suspect if there was some sort of disaster causing the earth to lose its light, it would have been mentioned. It says that in the beginning, that is, at the beginning of time, there was no light, it was only darkness. In order for the earth to somehow reject light (how could a planet without will or conciousness reject something?) it would have had to have done so “in time.”

However, the Bible says that when time “begins” the world is dark.

An interesting question indeed, my friend.

The idea of forming something implies the sculpting of a substance, whereas creating something implies more of a process of composition.

If we take the Bible to be saying *“the earth **became **formless and empty” *then we are indeed speaking of somekind of cosmic disaster that is not explicitly being told in scripture and entire new possiblities are opened up.

To refer to the beginning of the Gospel of John, the Logos is refered to as the Light:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and** that life was the light** of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

So here we can see that the Logos is the agent of creation and that this agent is “the light of men”. Now we know that the Logos is co-eternal with the Father, thus this light can have no beginning.
**
Hence my statement that God created the world through the agency of his primordial light and that the world, in same way, lost this light rendering it formless and empty, hence, the origin of darkness. This is why darkness has a beginning but the light does not. **

 

[cialovesyou]

Perhaps we might think of time as a function, or dimension of the Universe, thus, prior to the Universe, there is only the Eternal God, of whom time does not measure.

 

[Mirdath]

Without any sources of light (physical and chemical interactions like you have in stars and so forth, you know, the presence of energy and matter) all you have is… darkness.

 

[FuzzyBunny116]

Without any sources of light (physical and chemical interactions like you have in stars and so forth, you know, the presence of energy and matter) all you have is… darkness.

Gnosis: I’m leaving for school soon, I’ll go over your post when I get back.

Miradath: My point is that darkness is a parasite of light, cold is a parasite of heat, evil is a parasite of good. The former needs the latter, because by definition all it is is a lack of the latter.

 

[DallasCatholic]

Gnosis: I’m leaving for school soon, I’ll go over your post when I get back.

Miradath: My point is that darkness is a parasite of light, cold is a parasite of heat, evil is a parasite of good. The former needs the latter, because by definition all it is is a lack of the latter.

Maybe I am being obtuse, but what do you call a situation where there is no light and no possibility of light? Darkness does not REQUIRE light, WE define darkness as the absence of light…but in the beginning before there was light how would darkness have been defined? It would not have been defined (if someone was there to define it) because it was the only state of being. There was nothing to compare it to, nothing to give it definition. You are trying to make a modern definition fit where no definitions existed.

 

[Evan]

Lack of light (darkness) could exist when no light had ever been created. Just because it has not been created does not imply the lack does not exist.

There is a complete lack or gornon because gornon (whatever that is) has never been created. It may be that we are protected from gornon because never wanted us to experience such a thing

A lack of computing power existed in the 1300 before computers were invented.

 

[Valke2]

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2).”

If darkness is the absence of light, and in the beginning there is nothing but darkness, wouldn’t that mean that somehow the absence of something preceded that something?

if there was no light, it was absent.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

The absence of light means energy is not moving from photon to photon, so there may have been (1) no photons, (2) no energy, (3) no energy being transferred, (4) no energy or matter, etc, etc. So the absence of light would not mean light was removed, but mean light did not exist at that point and time.

 

[patg]

That’s the beauty of a myth - it doesn’t have to be scientifically correct to teach the truth.

 

[spauline]

like, uh, maybe you all miss the point? The bible is not science. It does not teach us how the heavens go but how to go to heaven. Ever consider the ECF tradtion that the days of creation are not so much about the CRE-ation of the world but of its RE-creation, that is, of the Redemption of humanity. Hence,

"
evening came and morning followed, the first day; …
evening came and morning followed, the second day; …
evening came and morning followed, the third day; …
evening came and morning followed, the fourth day; …
"

Kind of really resembles Salvation history, doesn’t it? For first comes the darkness of the fall, which culminatese with the wickedness of Noah’s day, followed by the light of the Flood, which cleansed the earth of sin and began anew a new world, a world that is being redeemed.

Then man asserted his dark arrogance at Babel, but God mercifully confounded the languages and shown His light upon Abrahame with the covenant.

then came the darkness of Egypt’s enslavement, followed by the light of the exodus, the third day.

Then came the darkness of Israel and Judah’s falling away from the Old Covenant, followed by the light of the exile that softened their hearts, and which led to the light of the restoration of the Old Covenant and their return to the Promised Land.

Etc, etc.

 

[Verita]

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2).”

If darkness is the absence of light, and in the beginning there is nothing but darkness, wouldn’t that mean that somehow the absence of something preceded that something?

Remember that Genesis was being written for a specific audience. You don’t write things in terms that your audience can’t understand.